A new bill was yesterday passed by the New Jersey legislators to stop businesses from banning their customers to use cash whenever they are making purchases. The bill will be submitted to Gov. Phil Murphy to append his signature. When he does, New Jersey will become the second state to pass such a bill protecting the use of cash by consumers.
This law that the New Jersey lawmakers proposed will only apply to point-of-sale purchases. Meaning purchases to do with mails, internet sales or telephones won’t be included in this bill. Besides, car-rental businesses will be exempted from this bill. This bill was passed in the state Assembly with a 71 to 2 vote. This came after the state Senate also passed the bill on a 39 to nil vote on Thursday.
One of the state reps, Paul D. Moriarty said that tons of people could not access consumer credit and the idea to ban the use of cash would cost the consumers severe losses. He also added by saying that such a move was discriminatory and unaccepted. In his statement, he expressed his total disappointment to such a move adding that the U.S dollar should be legal, thus should be accepted at any retail outlet in New Jersey.
In a bid to ensure that such a move doesn’t go through, Moriarty together with other sponsored expressed their dissatisfaction to a move by Visa Inc. who were pushing for a cashless challenge. Visa Inc. has been carrying out marketing campaigns to push its movement forward – something that the New Jersey lawmakers have disagreed with.
Another state rep, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson said the credit card institutions who were out to entice small companies with incentives wasn’t fair to those consumers who are not in a position to do so. Verlina criticized the use of credit cards saying that such moves will discriminate people who can only manage to pay for goods and services using cash.
However, Visa spokesperson said that the Visa challenge wasn’t meant to discriminate anyone. Besides, Visa spokesperson noted the move wasn’t mandatory. It was for anyone who is comfortable with it and not a challenge as it was thought.
To give more clarification, Visa spokesperson said that the cashless future shows how the business world is evolving in regards to consumer behavior. He emphasized that the idea was to help people who’d love to pay using their mobile phones, watches, or any other payment method to do so without having to worry about anything.
Finally
It’s not the best idea to eliminate cash as a method of payment. Such a move will not only discriminate most consumers but will also inconvenience their operations. That’s why there should be options for consumers. Consumers who can access merchant cash advance should as well be allowed to make purchases.
Author Bio: As the FAM account executive, Michael Hollis has funded millions by using merchant cash advance solutions. His experience and extensive knowledge of the industry has made him finance expert at First American Merchant.